Devotional Thought for Today

“‘No One Tells Me What to Do’—Oh, Be Quiet”

Exodus 18:24-27

So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

At this point Moses had a decision to make: Listen to his father-in-law’s advice (not always easy, as many a married man will attest) or keep doing what he was doing. But why should he listen to Jethro? After all, Moses was the one who just led the Israelites out of slavery, defying and defeating the world’s greatest superpower at the time! And it was Moses who performed miracle after miracle, wonders the likes of which the world had never seen. It may have been very tempting for him to assume that he was the one God uses, therefore he needs to do everything.

Maybe it was Moses’ great humility that saved him at this point. After all, he was “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). A younger, prouder man might have balked at advice from “mere mortals,” no less from one’s own father-in-law! Moses, however, was willing to receive such advice. Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”

How willing are you to listen to advice? Are there things going on in your life, whether difficult decisions or relationship issues or confusion about the future? Do you seek counsel from others? Or do you feel like you need to figure everything out on your own? Do you have a difficult time asking others for help or appearing “weak” by admitting you don’t know what to do? Let us consider the example of Moses, the man who the Scriptures declare “was faithful in all God’s house as a servant” (Hebrews 3:5), and learn from the wisdom of his humility.

Prayer: Lord, grant me a humble heart. Forgive me of my pride, self-reliance, and insecurity. Help me to be willing to be weak, vulnerable, or uncertain, and to be willing to reveal such things before others. Encourage me with the power of community and the wisdom of many counselors, that I may receive conviction to walk more and more with others by my side. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Romans 2

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Lunch Break Study

Read Joshua 7:1-6: But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

Questions to Consider

1. How formidable was the city of Ai?
2. Why did the Israelites lose the battle?
3. What effect did Achan’s sin have on the rest of the people? What does this tell you about the nature and impact of sin?

Notes

1. Ai was puny, especially compared to Israel’s army.
2. The Israelites lost because Achan broke covenant with God. God had been fighting for Israel and now His favor was removed.
3. Even though Achan did not involve other Israelites in his sin, nevertheless the entire nation was affected. The effects of sin go beyond what the eye can see and can affect the entire community.

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Evening Reflection

What’s something in your life that you know isn’t right and need to begin taking more seriously? What’s one step, no matter how small, that you can take to begin addressing it?

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“No, You Aren’t Sitting This One Out”

Exodus 18:13-23

The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

In an exercise in management and organizational behavior worthy of Harvard Business Review, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, saves his son-in-law from certain burnout. Not to mention, he also saves the Israelites from endless frustration, as there was no way one man could have addressed their myriad problems. Instituting a pyramid org chart, Jethro helps to “filter and funnel” Israel’s problems so that only the most difficult cases were placed before Moses. What’s the takeaway from this ancient episode for us? Simply this: We are all meant to partake in ministry.

It is no coincidence that this event takes place shortly after deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Come New Testament, we know that Egypt represented not physical bondage, but bondage to sin, and that Jesus was the one like Moses who would deliver His brothers from spiritual slavery. However, once He does so, He immediately turns His attention to getting us in the game:

Ephesians 4:10-12: He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

There will always be some in Christian leadership especially well-suited to tackling the “hard problem” – the elders, those with the gift of the word of wisdom, etc. – but this doesn’t mean that everyone else sits out while they do the “real ministry.” Christ has given us all gifts and abilities with which we can make a difference in the world for the kingdom of God. If we stick with the old 80/20 rule – that 80% of the work in the church is done by 20% of the people (or, worse yet, 90/10!), we will inevitably find burnt out leaders and a congregation, not to mention world, that’s not being ministered to. Whether as an influencer of “ten” or a “thousand,” there is a place of ministry for you alongside the true Moses, Jesus our Lord.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for delivering me from the bondage of sin. I acknowledge that You saved me, not so that I could sit on the sidelines, but so that I could serve others with the gifts and abilities that You have given me. May Your Spirit fill me with faith, boldness, and the security of knowing that I am a beloved child of God, so that I may walk in your will and be used to be a blessing to others. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Romans 1

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Lunch Break Study

Read Mark 10:17-22: And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Questions to Consider

1. If the rich young man was so good at keeping commandments, why didn’t he think that he was worthy of eternal life?
2. Does Jesus’ command to the young man mean that we also need to give away everything we have? How does this apply to us?
3. What was Jesus’ attitude towards the young man when He commanded him to sell everything? How should this encourage us?

Notes

1. There was another god in his life- money- and he could feel it weighing on his soul.
2. Whatever it is that we are not willing to give away is what Jesus would have us give away.
3. He loved him. Whatever it is that God is asking you to surrender, you can do so in faith because you know that His motivation towards you is love.

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Evening Reflection

Take a moment to reflect upon your day. What were the moments of tension or conflict that you experienced in your heart? Do you notice a pattern that might reveal something that has mastery over your heart?

Devotional Thought for Today

“God Who Redeems our Pain.”

Exodus 18:1-12

Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Moses, after delivering the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, is reunited with his wife, two sons, and father-in-law. Scripture specifically highlights his sons by not only naming them, but also by explaining the meaning of their names. This is interesting because in the case of Gershom, we already know the meaning of his name from the account of his birth in Exodus 2:22. So why repeat it? It’s almost as if the names of his sons took on new meaning in light of Egypt’s deliverance from slavery. It’s as if Moses’ sadness at his plight in Exodus 2 had been redeemed, with the names of his sons reminding him of how far God had taken him and the Hebrews.

There’s great encouragement to be received from Moses’ story. It reminds us that God is a Redeemer, and that we can hope in Him for the redemption of our pain and adversity. Moses is a reminder that truly, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). And this even becomes a testimony to the nations, for Jethro, a Midianite, declares, “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods”! And this was God’s aim all along. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 9:17, “Or the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’”

We must not lose sight of the fact that our suffering and eventual redemption serves as a light unto the nations. When we face adversity, put our hope in God and persevere, we experience God’s faithfulness, and that speaks volumes to the watching world about who our God is.

Prayer: Lord, grant me the perseverance to walk with you faithfully, even through the valley of the shadow of death. Grant that I may come to see the Gershoms and Eliezers of my life in a new light, trusting that God is a Redeemer, as He has shown us through the cross. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 28

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Lunch Break Study

Read Acts 6:8-15: Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Questions to Consider

1. How would you describe the manner in which witnesses against Stephen were produced as well as the nature of the accusations?
2. How might you have felt or reacted if you were in Stephen’s shoes?
3. According to v.15, how did Stephen react?  What can we learn from him?

Notes

1. The witnesses were “false” and the accusations egregious distortions of Jesus’ teachings, abused to the benefit of Stephan’s accusers.
2. A sense of anger, indignation, or injustice?
3. No matter how we are wronged, no matter the injustice we experience, can we face it with “the face of an angel”?  This doesn’t necessarily mean succumbing to whatever evil befalls us, but it does mean approaching every situation with love, forgiveness and blamelessness.

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Evening Reflections

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).  

Have a wonderful rest in Lord.  Good night.

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Wartime approach to Life”

Exodus 17:8-16

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Check out the following core value of Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper’s church):

BUILT ON A WARTIME APPROACH TO LIFE, EDUCATION, AND MINISTRY. As a nation during wartime focuses its collective resources on winning the war, so also we seek as individuals and an institution to focus our resources on the goal of achieving our shared mission. We believe that this involves pursuing strategic simplicity with regard to non-essentials in order that more resources may be channeled to the war effort. As an institution we will seek a wartime approach not only in the use of resources but also in pursuing strategies and processes that are effective in winning the war.

What really impresses me about this value is what it says about this church’s outlook – they realize that we are living in the middle of a war. This is impressive because America is not at war – compared to many countries around the world we enjoy relative peace and prosperity. In terms of our faith, yes, there is some persecution, but nothing worth comparing to what many of our brothers and sisters in the 10/40 window are suffering. The reality is that it’s easy for us to forget what reality is – that we’re in the middle of a war for our souls. As Paul wrote, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12).

So how do we fight this battle? With the sword and with staff. In what we do and in how we pray. That’s what we learn from Moses and Joshua. The war with the Amalekites took place on two levels. First, Joshua had to line up toe to toe with the enemy and engage in mortal combat. They did that for the entirety of a day. Unbeknownst to Joshua, however, there was another battle taking place nearby on a hill, one without swords and armor, but the result of which would decide the entire fight. That battle was one Moses, Aaron and Hur fought in prayer. It was so important, in fact, that after the battle Moses made sure that Joshua heard about it, lest he thinks that he won the battle with the sword.

In Christian life, we do, but more importantly we depend. A spiritual battle cannot be fought with the flesh alone – we must fight fire with fire. This is why we can never underestimate the importance and centrality of prayer. Prayer displays faith and dependence on God, which brings glory to God. Perhaps Martin Luther addressed this duality best when he said, “Pray like it all depends on God, then when you are done, go work like it all depends on you.” Heeding his words, let us work hard, but pray harder.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to the spiritual reality around me. Increase the sense of urgency in my spirit. Awaken me to last days living. Grant me that I may not get caught up in civilian affairs, but rather that I may live as a soldier in the field. May I be like Uriah, who when summoned to Jerusalem by David during war, would not sleep in his home, but rather, slept in the doorway of his house because his heart was always with his brothers who were at war. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 27

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Lunch Break Study

Read 1 Chronicles 4:9-10: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

Questions to Consider

1. How would you describe Jabez’s background/past experiences?  What does this teach us about how our past should affect our future?
2. What did Jabez ask of God?  Do you think this was easy for him?
3. What kind of change or freedom do you need to ask of God and to believe in Him for?

Notes

1. In spite of the fact that his identity was so caught up in his mother’s negative experience, he cried out to God that his life wouldn’t be bound or limited by the past.  No matter what you’ve experienced in the past, through Christ’s power you can have a different future.
2. What Jabez asked for took faith.  Oftentimes, even though we may wish for freedom from the past, we fail to seek it aggressively because we just don’t believe it could ever happen.  We become prisoners of the past. Jabez, however, in asking God took a step of faith.
3. Be bold!  There is nothing in your life that God cannot change.

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Evening Reflection

“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” – John Bunyan

Wrap up this day with a quiet time of meditation and prayer.

The AMI QT Devotionals from April 1-7 are provided by Pastor Ulysses Wong who pastors the Renewal Church in Sunnyvale, California.  He is a graduate of New York University (BS) and Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.). Pastor Ulysses and his wife Christine are proud parents of Audrey and Noah.

 

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Spiritual Amnesia No More”

Exodus 17:1-7

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

It’s hard to take these Israelites seriously. God just delivered them from slavery in Egypt – a situation so bad that they found themselves literally “groaning” to God for deliverance. Now here they are, freshly freed – and wanting to go back to Egypt. What gives? All it took was a little bit of desert sand for them to desert their Savior. Yet it is here that we find the human condition, and ourselves consequently – when the going gets tough, the tough go back to Egypt. There’s nothing like hardship to make one forget all of God’s past goodness. The real danger in the desert wasn’t heat stroke – it was spiritual amnesia.

We do the same, do we not? How often we become anxious or fearful when life doesn’t seem to be going our way! And the fact that Christ has already died and risen on our behalf – something the Israelites in the desert had yet to see – only adds to our culpability. So what do we do? We look to Jesus’ example:

Matthew 4:1-4: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Here we find Jesus, like Israel, in the wilderness. Jesus didn’t spend 40 years in the wilderness – only 40 days – but He fasted the entire time yet did not complain. In that way He was faithful where Israel failed, and truly can serve as our Redeemer. When faced with hunger, rather than complaining or testing God, He simply trusted. Not only that, amazingly we find that Jesus was with the Israelites those 40 years:

1 Corinthians 10:4-5: And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Somehow, the Rock that Moses struck was more than just a rock – it was Christ. And just as the struck Rock poured out life-giving water to a rebellious rabble, so a Christ struck upon the cross poured out His life-giving Spirit to us. So what’s the point? The point is that next time you find yourself in the desert, either wanting to complain or wanting to go back to Egypt, remember that Christ is with you, and that His Spirit can provide for you, no matter the situation. Jesus didn’t complain in the desert and He was struck for our sins so that we can be confident of His Presence in our lives always.

Prayer: Jesus, You were there all along, though the Israelites saw You not. Open my eyes to see You in the midst of my situation. Grant me the faith to know Your Presence, even in the midst of a dry and weary land where there is no water. Nourish me with living water. Satisfy my soul and help me to trust in You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 26

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Lunch Break Study

Read Hebrews 4:14-16: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Questions to Consider

1. If Jesus never sinned, can He truly empathize?  
2. Why is it important that “he did not sin”?
3. Where do you turn in your “time of need”?  What does this say about where you place your trust? How does Jesus’ ability to “empathize with our weaknesses” encourage you?

Note

1. Jesus can certainly empathize with us without having sinned because: first, Jesus, as the Second Person in the Trinity, is omnipotent; second, sinning is not an integral part of what it means to be a human.  Thus, the fact that Jesus was fully human (without sin) was enough for him to empathize with us.
2. Had Jesus sinned, his death could have atoned for his own sin but for not ours.  But, because Jesus—the perfect lamb of God—didn’t sin, his substitutionary sacrifice on the cross was able to atone for the sins of the world (1 Jn. 2:2).
3. Personal response.

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Evening Reflection

How did you do today when faced with adversity? Did you complain? Were you anxious or fearful? Or were you at peace, trusting in God’s presence? Take some time to take inventory of the emotions you felt today.

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“A Day of Rest”

Exodus 16:23

He said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.’”

Vance Havner used to look over the top of his glasses and say to his congregation, “If you don’t come apart, you will come apart.”  

While not all stress is bad for us, too much of it over too long a period can be a killer.  Literally. Most of us are wound pretty tight, which can result in everything from mild anger and irritation all the way to road rage and even a complete emotional breakdown.  The old Greek motto wasn’t far off: “You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.”

For centuries, the people of Israel had lived in slavery to the Egyptians.  They did not have three-day weekends or any vacations. Their lives consisted of working to build Pharaoh’s kingdom.  When God freed His people and called them to worship Him in the desert, He set a new pattern for their lives. Rather than following an endless pattern of work, eat, and sleep, they were to take one day off each week, to rest.

The Lord whom they met in the desert was very different form the slave-driving Pharaoh.  They were compelled to be slaves in Egypt, but they were invited into a covenant relationship with God in the desert.  They had to make bricks for Pharaoh who refused to give them straws, but they received free bread from God every morning in the desert.  They worked endlessly for Pharaoh, but they were commanded to take a day of rest as part of their relationship with God. The Lord was so intent on blessing them that he even preserved their sabbath day bread from the previous day.  

Israel was to set aside time and space to make room for God to live among them.  God’s presence came with the promise of peace, blessing, and flourishing for all (shalom).  Israel would not have seen this as an oppressive command, but as a gift of grace.  

God Himself was the very first Sabbath keeper.  God “rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”  It was God who first started the rhythm of six days of work followed by one day of rest.  He is the one who established the pattern in the beginning. And because we have been made in his image (Gn. 1:27), that pattern is built into the very fabric of who we are.  Our lives, in order to reflect the life of the Creator, are to follow that same “six-and-one” pattern of work and rest.

Have we set aside time in our busy lives to make room for God?   How do you try to observe the Sabbath in a way to reflects the character of God?

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, on the seventh day, You looked out over all that You had created and declared it good!  May we follow the pattern of work and rest that You began. May we remember that true sabbath rest is found in the work of Christ alone.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 25

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“A Daily Habit”

Exodus 16:13-26

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”  For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

The greatest revival of my life began on May 13, 1996.  It happened to be the day after I had graduated from Penn.  A thought hit me as I was about to dive into youth ministry for the first time:  “What if I don’t know the Bible well enough?” So, for the next two weeks, I holed up in my apartment, and aside from eating meals and going for a daily jog, I spent 6-8 hours reading the Bible.  Mass reading. Initially tedious, but eventually life-changing. I honestly don’t remember much as hour after hour flew by but I was in love with God’s Word—it was so good! Less than 2 weeks later, I finished Revelation and was never the same.  In fact, for the next 3 years, before the Lord called me into full-time ministry, I would continue to read 10 chapters of the Bible daily, reading the entire Bible 10 times those three years. I would have my morning devotional, then read my 10 chapters on the train ride to work.

Experts say it takes twenty-one days to form a habit.  That means if you were to start today, you would build a habit by Good Friday! 🙂  You may be thinking, “Just 21 days of waking up early to read my Bible and then it will be easy!” Well, it isn’t that simple.

For the Israelites, manna was a supernatural provision, but it had to be gathered daily: They had to go out in the morning and gather it up.  This suggests to us that, if we are to benefit from the Bible, it must require work on our part. We have to gather it up, study it, wrestle with it, and sift through our prejudices to understand what Scripture really says.  

The manna that the Israelites gathered up one day would not last until the next day.  The Bible should be studied in the same way. It is like eating meals. We won’t die if we miss one meal, or if we fast for one day, but we will eventually die once we stop eating for good.  We were meant to eat daily both physically and spiritually. So, as the Israelites had to eat the manna daily for it to do any good, we also need to “eat” God’s Word (Heb. 5:12-14) in the same manner that ruminant animals “chew the cud” (Lev. 11:4)—carefully and meticulously. And this manna will be available until we enter our Promised Land (heaven!).

So how is your hunger for the Word of God this morning?  It is a blessing when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to seek God’s Word and His will for our lives.  Thankfully, we have easy access to the Bible. When we cultivate a daily hunger for the Word, He will satisfy the deepest longings of our souls.  Are you reading and listening to what God has to say to you?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, only Your Word can feed the deepest hunger of our souls.  It is such a blessing today to have easy access to the Bible! Give me a hunger for Your Word and the humility and wisdom to listen to You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 23-24

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Do You Believe in Miracles?”

Exodus 16:1-5, 11-16 (ESV)

They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily . . .”

11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’”

The Soviet Union entered the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York as the heavy favorite to win the gold medal in men’s ice hockey.  As previous winners of four consecutive gold medals and filled with a legendary, star-studded group of professional players, the Soviet Union team was considered a virtual lock for another Olympic championship.  

Contrastingly, the US team was made up of amateur players with an average age of 21 years old, making it the youngest team in US history to play in the Olympics.  It was a bunch of no name college players going against the world’s finest hockey machine. Imagine the US Olympic basketball Dream Team of 1992 (consisting of Jordan, Magic and Bird to name a few) losing to Angola?  Not going to happen. But, the “Miracle on Ice” indeed happened when the US beat the Soviet Union 4-3. Every American on the planet probably tuned into the last minutes of the game, and to this day, this match is widely held as the best international hockey story ever.  

Well, what about you?  Do you believe in miracles?  Verse one states that it had been exactly one month since the Israelites had come out of Egypt.  The time reference is not accidental: Only a month before they had been miraculously delivered, but now they forgot all about it. Although they had been given a stunning victory over the mighty Egyptians, merely a month later they were complaining because there were hungry. So God promises them manna, which literally means “what is it?”  And He would provide manna for the next 40 years. Manna was not a product of some biological organism. It was not man-made; it was certainly not something that the Israelites brought with them out of Egypt. Instead, God provided the manna straight from heaven—a great miracle indeed.

Ancient Israel had no word for “miracle” or “nature.”  They expected natural phenomena to tell them something about God.  The Hebrew words in the OT, which are sometimes translated to mean miracle, literally mean “sign”—an event that points to some future meaning, or an event that draws attention to something else, usually God.  Thus, in NT times, people expected that God would authenticate any disclosure of His intention with miracles. The Kingdom of God is now here (Lk. 17:21) and miracles are indeed signs pointing to this kingdom.  Consider the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry at the Wedding at Cana in John 2 that was signified by his first miracle of turning water into wine, or Jesus’ declaration, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28).

I believe that signs still exist today to remind us of God’s Kingdom.  Miracles are still as much today a “sign” to announce the kingdom message as it was then.  Considering that, are there areas in your life that seem hopeless and against all odds? Don’t give up!  Ask the Lord for a miracle. Whether it be a miracle of physical healing or restoring a hopelessly broken relationship, let us wait in eager anticipation, in faith and earnest prayer.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, I come to You today with faith so small I cannot see a way out.  I want to believe You are able to do more than I can ever imagine (Eph. 3:20).  I want to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). God, please bring a miracle into my life.  I know that You can do the impossible in my life and I am trusting in Your promises. Thank You for being a God who sees and hears my every need. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 22

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Lunch Break Study

Read Mark 9:21-24 (ESV):  And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Questions to Consider

1. What lesson is Jesus teaching the man in v.23, and how does the man receive and respond to the lesson in v. 24?
2. Why was the father so desperate in his response in v. 24?
3. In what area of your life do you need God’s miracle?  Ask for a miracle.

Notes

1. Here, Jesus’ power is not the issue, but faith in him is.  All things are not possible to be done by the believer himself, but all things are possible to be done for him, by Jesus.  That work is done by faith which is a gift itself.
2. He recognized his limitations in view of the severity of the situation.  Ultimately, he put his faith and hope in Jesus.
3. Personal response.

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Evening Reflection

The fundamental question you and I need to be more conscious of today is, “Am I living my life in the deep faith of being united to God’s presence or am I living my life as though I am in control of everything that goes on in my life?”  If we live our daily lives in the deep and personal union with God’s presence, our deep faith can give us a peace where we strongly believe that our lives are in the hands of God who cares for us. 

So, let us live in the greater consciousness and gratitude to God for His caring and compassionate love, where He never fails to work “miracles” for us daily.  The greater our consciousness and the deeper our gratitude to God, the more discerning we become in our relationship with Jesus.

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“From Bitter to Made Sweet”

Exodus 15:22-27 (ESV)

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

The Christian life is not easy.  Rev. William Taylor, a preacher in New York City at the end of the 1800s, wrote, “We may learn that we are not done with hardship when we have left Egypt.”  It is just as Jesus said to his disciples: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). He warned us in advance that we do not have an easy path to glory.

There will be Marah in your life at times.  After the Israelites had sung that great song of Moses and Miriam, rejoicing over what God had done, they marched to their first oasis, Marah.  For a large company of people driving animals, the constant search for a well, an oasis, any source of water, would’ve been difficult in the desert.  

The problem was that when they reached Marah, its water was so bitter that the people couldn’t drink it.  That’s why the oasis was called Marah, which means “bitter.”  Naomi uses the same word in the book of Ruth when she tells her daughters to call her Marah because her life had been so bitter (Ruth 1:20).

In that moment, Moses “cried out to the Lord” (v. 25), and the Lord provided a log that when thrown into the water, made the water sweet.  “I am the LORD, your healer” (v. 26) presents a new name for God:  Jehovah Rapha.  The God of deliverance is also the God of healing, and He will take care of Israel every step of the way in the wilderness.

I believe the bitter water at Marah is symbolic of what was going on inside the hearts of the Hebrews.  When freedom was not as easy as they had hoped; when circumstances were not what they desired, their hearts began to be filled with the diseases of bitterness and resentfulness.  God knew their need for healing from bitterness and He longed to bring that healing to them.

God can heal our bitterness and turn it into something sweet.  The next oasis on the journey was Elim, which had 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees.  A time of refreshing.

Let’s apply this lesson to our hearts today.  I invite you to allow Jehovah Rapha to examine your heart.  “Are there ways that you are more like the Israelites than you care to admit?  When God doesn’t work in our lives in the way that we think He should, does it lead to bitterness?  When God’s timing is different than we had hoped, do we harbor resentment against Him? Let Jehovah Rapha (the Lord who heals you) examine your heart and heal you of the diseases that sin inflicts upon us.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, there are deep wounds, broken hearts, and incredible pain that I want to bring to Your throne of grace.  Through the power of your Holy Spirit, don’t let my heart become a garden filled with resentment and bitterness. Have mercy on me, Lord; grant me healing, freedom, and lots of grace.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 21

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Lunch Break Study

Read Hebrews 12:15: See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Job 5:2: “Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.”

Ephesians 4:31-32. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,  forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Questions to Consider

1. What are the some of the causes of bitterness?
2. What are some of the consequences of bitterness?
3. What is the cure for bitterness?

Notes

1. Much of our bitterness and anger towards others is rooted in our inability to be profoundly amazed at Christ’s love for us in our sin. If you are struggling with bitterness then it may be that the Lord is letting the very sin that is flowing from your inability to see Christ as the means by which you come to see him.
2. Bitterness is like poison that infects our lives.  The author of Hebrews compares bitterness to a root that overtakes our hearts and causes trouble in many other areas of our lives (Hebrews 12:15).  Although our feelings of bitterness, anger, and resentment may seem justified, they are not. Instead, they’re hurtful and destructive—to ourselves as well as to the person who hurt us.
3. We must forgive.  “Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you” is an unbelievably important word from Ephesians 4:32.  Because we have been forgiven by God for things that are mortally dangerous, it should open the door for greater grace towards other people.  We need to be stunned at God’s grace in a deeper way regularly. Out of that experience can flow grace towards others.

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Evening Reflection

I invite you to think of a situation or person where feelings of bitterness have festered.  God’s Word teaches us to forgive and instructs us not to let the sun go down while we’re angry.  When we do, we give the devil a place to work in our hearts and relationships. Instead of allowing the enemy room to plant relational weeds between us, choose forgiveness, extend grace, and prevent a bitter root from taking hold.  Make a commitment to “let go of any bitterness” and to “forgive those who have hurt you.”

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Am I God-Centered or Self-Centered?”

Exodus 15:1-18 (ESV)

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider[a] he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. 4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. 5 The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. 7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. 8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ 10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? 12 You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. 13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. 14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. 17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. 18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

Our self-worth/value is greatly affected by whether we are anchored to a God-centered or self-centered viewpoint.  We know that self-centeredness, which originates from our fallen nature, focuses everything on the self, thereby causing our self-worth to become diminished or bloated based on our performance.  No doubt that we live in a culture where an individual’s value comes from an external and superficial perspective, rather than from something greater than the self.  

Often, we are swayed by other people’s opinions, or comparison to others, which, then, leads us to doubt or question our intrinsic value as God’s child.  So we say to ourselves: “My friend landed a better job and makes more money than me.  What I’m doing is nothing in comparison”; “My friend is skinny and really pretty.  She’ll have no problem getting matched, but what about me?”; “my friends do and say things I don’t agree with.  I feel they won’t like me if I disagree with them.  I want to be accepted, that’s why I support them, but what if standing up for what I believe in means I’ll lose them as friends?” Given this situation we all face (some more than others), to develop and strengthen our original God-given value, we need to intentionally make the effort to change our perspective, that is to say, it won’t change unless we make that effort.  

Notice in this passage that this great song of Moses is completely God-centered, glorifying God from beginning to end.  We may think that it took a great leader’s courage to lead approximately two million people out of the land of slavery and into the wilderness.  Yet, there isn’t a word about Moses the entire song. The name of God is mentioned twenty-seven times (by my count!), including pronouns referring to God.  The song even moves from a celebration of God’s past deliverances to the future victories yet to come. This is the God-centered faith that we are called to live in!

When the people stood at the edge of the Red Sea and Moses told them to go forward, they obeyed by faith.  Moses said, “Stand firm and you will see the Lord’s deliverance,” and that is the challenge to faith today.  F.B. Meyer puts it very well: Learn what God will do for his own.  Dread not any result of implicit obedience to his command; fear not the angry waters which, in their proud insolence, forbid your progress; fear not the turbulent crowds of men who are perpetually compared to waters lifting up their voice and roaring with their waves.  Fear none of these things. Above the voices of many waters, the might breakers of the sea, the Lord sits as king upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth as king forever…Dare to trust Him.

In light of this passage, make sure to:

• Ask the Lord to show you how He sees you and what kind of value He has assigned to you.  Can you think of an example where you connected to your unique value as God’s son/daughter?
• Surrender areas of your life where you have allowed society’s perspective to affect how you feel about the values and beliefs you cherish because they are rooted in God’s truth.

Prayer:  Lord, I always want to trust in You.  Thank You for Your past deliverances as well as the ones that are yet to come.  Help me to see things as You do. If more of You is less of me, then take everything from me!  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 20

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Lunch Break Study

Read Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Questions to consider

1. Psalm 1 is a contrast between two ways in life: the self-directed vs. the God-directed life.  What are the benefits of the one who strives to make the Word of God (God-centeredness) the focus, rather than external accomplishments and opinions?
2. It bears repeating what was asked in the morning devotion: Ask the Lord to show you how He sees you and what kind of value He has assigned to you.  Can you think of an example where you connected to your unique value as God’s son/daughter?

Notes

1. The imagery in Psalm 1:3, paints a picture of several results in a God-centered life:

• Stability (“he is planted”)
• Vitality (“by streams of water”)
• Productivity (“yields its fruit”)
• Durability (“does not wither”)
• Prosperity (“in all that he does, he prospers”)

2. Personal response

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Evening Reflection

I invite you to think of a situation where you feel conflicted about seeing this situation from God’s viewpoint or a self-centered viewpoint.  Make a commitment to ask a close friend what he or she thinks is God’s perspective on this situation; also ask how he or she feels about the perspective you’re taking.  How would that impact your proactive approach to the situation?